https://leader.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2432375Feds Award Grants to CSD Academic ProgramsNine communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs will receive a share of $9.2 million in grants the U.S. Department of Education is awarding to university programs to train new special educators. Developed in response to anticipated shortages in the field, the grants are designed to help increase the number of ...2015-09-01T00:00:00News in Brief

Developed in response to anticipated shortages in the field, the grants are designed to help increase the number of “highly qualified personnel” serving students with disabilities in regular classrooms, special education programs, transition services, early intervention and other areas.

An additional $3.6 million is designated to help graduate programs prepare special education leaders, expected to be in demand as college professors and school administrators retire (see “A Closer Look at the PhD Faculty Workforce”).

ASHA members received seven grants:

Jessica Hettinger Franco, University of Texas, Austin: Special training to 30 graduate speech-language pathology students on how to improve the transition into postsecondary education and the workforce for children with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Karen Muñoz, Utah State University: Two years of additional coursework and practica for 10 clinical doctorate students in audiology and 23 master’s students in speech-language pathology, enabling them to provide services to young children who are deaf or hard of hearing whose families have chosen to use listening and spoken language.

Anita Perez, University of Texas, Austin: Training on collaboration and service delivery to children with language impairments from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Jillian H. McCarthy, University of Tennessee, Health Science Center: Preparation of at least 32 speech-language pathologists as direct service providers to improve the language and literacy outcomes of children who use or could benefit from augmentative and alternative communication strategies or equipment.

Wendy Quach, San Jose State University: Prepare three cohorts of 10 speech-language pathology graduate students to provide culturally responsive assessment and intervention to California’s increasingly diverse population of children with communication disorders.

Gloria Soto, San Francisco State University: Prepare 60 speech-language pathologists to work effectively with culturally and linguistically diverse children with significant disabilities and augmentative communication needs, ages birth to 21.

Two additional grants were awarded to:

Marcy Safyer and Gilbert Foley, Adelphi University: Prepare graduate students in school psychology, mental health counseling, social work and speech-language pathology to become infant mental health and developmental practice specialists, serving children 0–5 and their families.

Carla Jones, Hampton University: Recruit, retain and train 25 speech-language pathology students to serve children with speech and/or language impairments, including children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in high-need local education areas, high-poverty schools and low-achieving schools. Students commit to work for at least three years in a low-achieving, high-poverty school.